1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to safety devices for flammable fuels, and particularly to a flame arrester for permanent installation within a liquid fuel container, tank, or the like, or in the neck or spout thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flame arresters are well known for installation in elongate pipes that carry various flammable gases that may be subject to mixing with atmospheric oxygen and a possible ignition source. In many instances, flame arresters are required in such conditions. Generally, the ignition of the flammable substance within such a pipe results in a relatively high-pressure wave due to its confinement within the pipe. As a result, flame arresters configured for such installations generally comprise a diametric disk of porous material that is disposed completely across the interior of the pipe. The flame arrester material generally comprises a fine mesh or other porous configuration of thermally conductive material, usually metal, to quench the flame, and the fine porous passages therethrough serve to reduce the velocity of flame travel through the mesh disk. The metal structure also provides the structural strength required to withstand the relatively high-pressure front that occurs in the event of ignition within such a confined space.
However, there are many other environments in which ignition of a flammable vapor is possible, where the vapor is not confined to such relatively long pipes, tubes, and the like. Examples include, but are not limited to, portable fuel containers (e.g., gas cans) having relatively short dispensing spouts, and automotive fuel tanks having relatively short filler necks. The installation of conventional diametric metal flame arrester discs within such spouts and necks is generally inconvenient, as such devices (in a fuel tank filler neck) tend to prevent the insertion of a fuel nozzle therein, and in any case, the relatively fine porosity greatly restricts the flow of fuel therethrough. As a result, the users of such devices often remove the flame arrester from the spout or neck, thereby negating any potential safety that would otherwise be provided by such a device.
Thus a flame arrester solving the aforementioned problems is desired.